Hi All,
I just wanted to let you know that Nick's red blood cell transfusion went fine. He went with Grammy and according to her 'Nick called all the shots'. He told her what to do and what games he wanted to play at clinic. His only complaint was that the transfusion took too long. If that is the only complaint, we'll take it. Grammy bought him a lemonade on the way out. Nick will finish his class today and the 4 of us (Tom will be at daycare) will head into Boston tomorrow for a Red Sox's game. We are very excited about the game since this will be the boys first time to Fenway. As an added bonus we will be going on the field, prior to the game, to watch batting practice. Greg is soooo excited about the experience and the boys think they can play to. This is a new adventure for us and are looking forward to a great game.... Go SOX! Nick has reminded me that he needs a souvenir before we leave the game. It was so funny because Colby asked Nick 'what is a souvenir'. How many 5 yr olds would have to explain to a 6 yr old what a souvenir is? We are crossing our fingers for NO rain tomorrow.
As I mentioned before we will be going to Camp Sunshine next week. The camp starts on Sunday, but since Nick needs chemo on Monday, we will go to clinic first and then drive up after. The boys are looking forward to a 'vacation' in Maine. This weekend we will be busy for us to. The Tomorrow Fund is having a family picnic on Sunday in Warwick, RI. We will be going to the picnic and hopefully seeing some of our friends from clinic. It still amazes me how strong the parents we have met are. These children have cancer or are in remission and yet they let nothing stop them when it comes to playing. They definitely give us strength and help us through the day.
We hope everyone has a great week, I will not be posting another blog until I get back from vacation... I need a little break and we hope to have lots of pictures to share with everyone when we get back. Take Care... Signing off! The Shannon Family
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Uneventful week turned into ER visits
Hello,
To our surprise Nick started spiking a fever Thursday night and then his temp. went back down Friday morning and spiked again Friday late afternoon. Greg took him to the ER and they accessed his port, drew blood and gave him some antibiotics immediately. We had a feeling he might be fighting a little virus because of his cough and a little runny nose. Also, Tom (our 1 yr old) had caught a virus as well and was fighting it off. Nick's ANC number: Remember this is the number that shows his 'immature' white blood cells (which can NOT fight off virus's) to his 'mature' white cells = 975. Anything below 500 is considered neutropenic and he would have been admitted. Waiting for that number is always scary because we really do not ever know how his body is fighting and if it has enough 'ammunition' to fight off a virus. His red blood cells were at 7.4, which is borderline a transfusion, but the doctors decided to send him home and bring him back on Saturday for more blood work and another round of antibiotics. Nick is such a trouper and was okay with everything. I think he really liked the idea that he did not have to spend the night and agreed to come back the next day.
Greg brought him again on Saturday afternoon. As I have stated before, you really have to be on your toes in the ER. The nurse tried to access Nick's port the first time and used the wrong needle.... Greg had to point that out to her. The second time she could not get it, so Greg requested a nurse from the 5th floor to come down and access it correctly. I heard Nick was a brave boy throughout, but he was left with some bruising on the skin of his port. His counts came back about the same and the doctors sent Nick home again. This week I have Nick signed up for a Ready-Set-Go Kindergarten class in the morning w/his friend Michael. I took him there Monday morning and picked him up at lunch time and headed down to clinic w/Colby. His red blood cells were still low and we are heading back today for a transfusion. The process can be a little frustrating. I think the clinic doctors had planned on a transfusion on Monday, but we did not have enough time (for clinic hours) to give him one. The ER doctors never mentioned it to Greg on Saturday, so Nick gets his port accessed again today. Grammy is going to take him today... it will the first time Greg or I have not taken him. He said he wanted to go w/Grammy today.... what a difference from just 9 months ago. We'll let you know it goes.
take care, Karen
To our surprise Nick started spiking a fever Thursday night and then his temp. went back down Friday morning and spiked again Friday late afternoon. Greg took him to the ER and they accessed his port, drew blood and gave him some antibiotics immediately. We had a feeling he might be fighting a little virus because of his cough and a little runny nose. Also, Tom (our 1 yr old) had caught a virus as well and was fighting it off. Nick's ANC number: Remember this is the number that shows his 'immature' white blood cells (which can NOT fight off virus's) to his 'mature' white cells = 975. Anything below 500 is considered neutropenic and he would have been admitted. Waiting for that number is always scary because we really do not ever know how his body is fighting and if it has enough 'ammunition' to fight off a virus. His red blood cells were at 7.4, which is borderline a transfusion, but the doctors decided to send him home and bring him back on Saturday for more blood work and another round of antibiotics. Nick is such a trouper and was okay with everything. I think he really liked the idea that he did not have to spend the night and agreed to come back the next day.
Greg brought him again on Saturday afternoon. As I have stated before, you really have to be on your toes in the ER. The nurse tried to access Nick's port the first time and used the wrong needle.... Greg had to point that out to her. The second time she could not get it, so Greg requested a nurse from the 5th floor to come down and access it correctly. I heard Nick was a brave boy throughout, but he was left with some bruising on the skin of his port. His counts came back about the same and the doctors sent Nick home again. This week I have Nick signed up for a Ready-Set-Go Kindergarten class in the morning w/his friend Michael. I took him there Monday morning and picked him up at lunch time and headed down to clinic w/Colby. His red blood cells were still low and we are heading back today for a transfusion. The process can be a little frustrating. I think the clinic doctors had planned on a transfusion on Monday, but we did not have enough time (for clinic hours) to give him one. The ER doctors never mentioned it to Greg on Saturday, so Nick gets his port accessed again today. Grammy is going to take him today... it will the first time Greg or I have not taken him. He said he wanted to go w/Grammy today.... what a difference from just 9 months ago. We'll let you know it goes.
take care, Karen
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